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Physics instructor Ed Caner is still fiddling around with science and music with Hey Mavis

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Ed Caner, far left, is the fiddle in the roots band Hey Mavis. His wife, Laurie, adds vocals, banjo and songwriting to the mix. From left are Caner, bassist Bryan Thomas, Laurie Michelle Caner and guitarist Brent Kirby.
(Shane Wynn)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It’s classic: Left-brain people are creative and artistic. Right brain people are meticulous and prone to the sciences.

Poor Ed Caner is kind of in no man’s land. He’s an instructor in physics at Case Western Reserve University and the fiddler and viola player in the roots band Hey Mavis.

“Somebody was talking to me the other day about that left-brain, right-brain thing,’’ he said, laughing in a call to his Akron home. “Maybe I have a unibrain instead of a unibrow. I can’t shave my head because there’s probably this big ridge in the middle.’’

He needs both halves to keep up with the schedule of being a full-time teacher whose specialty is “the cross between science and business and innovation’’ and playing out with the four-piece band that includes wife, Laurie on vocals and banjo, guitarist Brent Kirby and upright bassist Bryan Thomas.

Hey Mavis averages a little more than five shows a month, playing all over the region, and they’re not always weekend gigs.

“We get our [behinds] kicked every once in a while,’’ Caner said. A classic example is a recent weekday show in Columbus.

“We finish in Columbus at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, and I’ve got to be at Case teaching a class at 8:30 a.m.,’’ he said. “We’re not out of the their till midnight at least, and I’ll get home at 2 or 2:30 (a.m) and have to get up at 6 to get to work. That’s a butt-kicker right there.’’

It’s a good thing he’s got such an understanding spouse, right? Well, who do you think BOOKED the gig, anyway?

“She’d just say, ‘Cry me a river. The baby’s going to wake me up at 6 in the morning,’’’ Caner said, laughing again.

He and Laurie have a 2-year-old son named Roscoe, as well as his stepdaughters, 8-year-old Ada and 10-year-old Stella.

But you have to ask, when is there time to practice, especially since he also does a few gigs with cellist Mark Dudrow, like the one at 7 p.m. Sunday in the restored barn at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Hines Hill Conference Center, 1403 W. Hines Road, Peninsula?

“Unfortunately, I can’t practice much these days,’’ Caner said. “That’s just the way it is.

“It’s a difficult thing for me personally because I get into positions playing music where I know I could’ve done it a couple of years ago, or even last summer, when I had time to practice,’’ he said. “It’s there in my head, just not in my fingers.’’

You’d hard-pressed to prove to any of Hey Mavis’ that Caner and his magic digits have lost a step, especially the band’s latest CD, “Honey Man.’’ The music, most of which was written by Laurie, has a resonance that dips into the soul via the ears.

A large part of that is the quality of the musician in the band, who are as supportive as they are gifted.

“We get to the 45th minute of our show and that’s when I’m about getting warmed up,’’ Caner said. “I’ll hang out a great solo and Brent will look over and Bryan will look over and they’ll smile and give me a thumbs-up, and I’ll get some audience applause and I’ll think, ‘I can do this.’’’

“Those guys are a musician’s musician,’’ Caner said. “I get that thought every time we play out.’’

And apparently, there may be some competition waiting in the wings. The popularity of his instrument mean more and more kids are playing now.

“String instruments never lost their appeal for parents have their kids take violin lessons,’’ Caner said.

“If you look at the trends, they dip and waver here and there,’’ he said. “But if you look longer term, it just keeps growing. The market out there is incredible for beginner instrument and kids just keep learning.

“Fifteen years ago, I thought for sure it was going to die,’’ said Caner. But the sheer volume of students, and the blossoming use of the instrument in non-traditional genres gave it a reprieve.

He conceded that rock guitar guru Jeff Beck’s fiddler, Lizzie Ball, is a good example.

“Now we’re able to sit in with a guy like Jeff Beck,’’ Caner said. “50 years ago, violinists didn’t know HOW to sit in with a rock band.’’

True. And maybe, just maybe, they’ve finally figured out that music in general and rock in particular is not a left-brain/ right-brain thing.

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